


Cross my heart and hope to die

by Felicia (Fillerh)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/M, The Hunger Games AU, mainly focused on zutara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-21 00:51:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12445761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fillerh/pseuds/Felicia
Summary: After the 100 year war the fire nation finally conquered the entire world, and as a way of keeping everyone in their place, they split the world into districts, keeping Caldera as the capitol. District one, two, and three were all fire nation, district four, eleven, and twelve earth kingdom, district five, seven, and nine water tribes, and district six, eight, and ten air nation. At first the districts were not specialised in any way, and the capitol had trouble sustaining it’s luxurious life style. Therefore, each districts began specialising in one thing, and, due to this, they were also dependant on the other districts and the capitols mercy. Not soon after there was a rebellion, and once the threat was destroyed, the bending games were born. Since even people from the fire nation had rebelled, this applied to all twelve districts. The rules were simple. Each year one girl and one boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen were to be reaped from each district. They would then be sent into an arena that was broadcasted worldwide to fight to the death. Only one victor would remain.





	Cross my heart and hope to die

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU there is no such thing as the avatar, and the air nation was never destroyed.
> 
> So this have been sitting in my WIP box *forever* and I figured that if I posted it here it would give me the final push to actually write it. I have most of it mapped out, I just have to actually write it. This is not betaed or even looked over, so I apologise for spelling/grammatical errors. I'm not a native speaker so please have patience with me ^^
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Katara glanced over to her sleeping brother, carefully standing up and sneaking out from the small room. After closing the door behind her, she sighed deeply, giving herself a mental pat on the back. Though, she supposed, she should’ve been more careful. She glanced up just in time to see Hakoda standing in front of her, arms crossed.  
“And where do you think you’re going?”  
Katara huffed and mumbled something akin to a curse before forcing her most innocent smile to the man in front of her.  
“I’m just… stretching?” she said, more like a question than anything. Just to make it that much more believable she stretched and yawned loudly, cringing at the rustling sound that came from behind the closed door. 

Usually her brother slept like a rock, but whenever there was a reaping he was easily stirred by anything. A loud thump announced that he’d fallen out of the bed and they both winced at the sound. He gave her a stern look before sighing and opening his arms to give her a hug. She gladly lept into his arms, cherishing the warmth that engulfed her.   
“Go before he sees you, but be careful,” Hakoda mumbled into his daughters hair. “Make sure to stay safe, and be home an hour before the reaping.”

Katara nodded energetically, before bolting out from beneath her father's arms, grabbing some dried fish on her way out of the small shed that she called her home. As she absentmindedly started chewing on her fish she made her way over to the one place she felt at ease, nodding and offering a small smile at the people she crossed on her way over to the shore.

She lived in a small and poor part of town, so close to the sea that the smell of fish and seawater clinged to everything. She’d grown up with it, and the smell had never bothered her, in fact it just made her feel at home. She made her way over to the shore by walking alongside a few alleys, most of them run-down and smelling of rot. Katara carefully stepped around garbage, making sure to not soil her shoes too much. 

Once, her people had lived up south, surrounded by ice and water, living in small communities. A time where waterbenders had been plentiful. As it were, she was the only waterbender left that came from the south, though there were a few waterbenders from the north still in district 9. At least, she thought, that’s what she’d been told. She hadn’t experienced any of it. For several generations the waterbending population had become more rare, and Katara secretly worried about it.

She sighed contentedly as she reached the pearly blue water, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the raising sun, mentally praying to Tui and La that she and her brother would not be reaped. 

* * *

As soon as the sun was even slightly visible on the horizon Zuko was up, sitting on the floor in his chamber, meditating. Usually the habit would calm him down, but on this particular day it didn’t. Today, he would volunteer to join the bending games. 

It had been drilled into him ever since his father had removed him from the line of succession. He snarled at the thought, absentmindedly feeling the puckered flesh of his burn. A banished prince, trying to regain his honor. That alone would’ve been enough to leave him agitated, but yesterday he had gained some unusual information while eavesdropping on the guards. Apparently he wasn’t the only royalty that would join the bloody battle. His sister, Azula, would be there too. 

It wasn’t unheard of royalty joining the games. His father, Ozai, had joined them when he was fifteen, winning in only a few days. Royalty usually had the upper hand, sponsors trying to help them to win their favor. Some royalty abstained, like his uncle Iroh, and some died in a bloody battle. He couldn’t help to think of his cousin, Lu Ten, as he pondered, remembering vividly his uncle’s warning.  
 _“Remember, Prince Zuko, you do not have to battle in the games. No one is forcing you.”  
“If I am to regain my honor I have to!”  
“Prince Zuko, your honor was never lost.”_

He’d stormed out of the room at that point, blood boiling. All his life had been spent training to one day become the fire lord, and one small misstep when he was thirteen had ruined it. He’d lost his honor, and been banished to district one. The only chance he had of ever returning home and regain his rightful place as the crown prince, was by winning the game.

This year was his last chance. The previous years he had practiced, trained, learned everything he could about the games, but now, at eighteen, it was his last chance. If he didn’t do it now, he would never be able to regain his lost honor. It had taken him this long to finally master firebending, and if he had previously felt confident, it had all crumbled at the news that his prodigy of a sister would be joining the fight at only sixteen. Sighing, he quickly shut his eyes, trying hard to ignore the bile that was quickly rising.

* * *

After her initial morning practices Katara quickly left the shore, feeling both pleased and frustrated. Her bending was getting better, and with some ingenuity she’d made some of the forms she’d seen the other benders do work. However, it was going slow, and she was sure that if they’d had the money to get her a training spot she’d be a master at this point, just based off of her determination. 

As she made her way home she met more and more people as the city got ready for the reaping. She crossed the city hall and saw the many firebender guards standing ready to control the situation if it turned ugly. _As if the situation wasn’t already ugly_. She also distantly saw the red headed woman that was the escort of district nine. Katara could never remember her name, but was sure it was something ridiculously fire nation like. Snorting she continued home, arriving just in time to hear her brothers screech. 

“It’s cold!”  
“What did you expect? I thought you would’ve gotten used to it by now,” her father's voice came from the bathing room.   
Smiling at her brothers yelp and the splashing that accompanied it she made her way into the shack, loudly announcing that she was home. 

Having already gone swimming in the ocean she saw no need to take another bath, and instead walked and changed into her finest clothes, which to be frank wasn’t that great. Sighing, a small weight settling in the pit of her stomach, she braided her hair, put on her mother's necklace and waited for her family to be ready. The reaping would soon begin. 

After her dad had forced Sokka into some clothes that he somehow found uncomfortable they made their way over to the city square. Once they reached the blood drawing station Katara and Sokka hugged each other, and then their father. When it was Sokka's turn, Katara noticed that Hakoda whispered something into his ear, but she didn’t find out what, figuring she’d ask him about it later. They made their way to the blood station before being pushed into their respective age and gender group. 

Katara nervously rubbed her arms, goosebumps forming even though she wasn’t cold.   
“Welcome to The Bending Games!” came a cheery voice from the speakers, making Katara flinch.   
“I’m Akane, your host and the escort for district nine!”  
It was obvious that she said the last part for the cameras.   
“Today we will select the 24 tributes, which will fight for their lives and their districts to win the 57th annual Bending Games. I’m happy to be here and you should be too!” She paused and grinned, probably waiting for a response she would never get. Clearing her throat she continued.  
“After the fire nation's successful uniting of the nations, a rebellion was formed, killing thousands on both sides. After destroying so many lives the mighty fire lord Azulon invented the Bending Games in order to stop it from ever happening again. Each of the 12 districts has to offer a boy and a girl in the age of 12 to 18, who will fight to the death until only one remains. Happy Bending games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!”

She ended the speech with a small clap and a grin, the square quiet and unresponsive. She stopped her clapping, once again smiling nervously.   
“Alright then! Ladies first.” She moved over to the glass bowl, her hand flipping through the pieces of paper inside it. Katara closed her eyes and touched her mother’s necklace, waiting anxiously to hear who Akane picked.

“And the female tribute from district nine is,“ she pauses for dramatic effect, “Katara from the Southern Water tribes!”  
Time freeze. Slowly, Katara let her eyes look up at the podium, where Akane stands, looking out over the crowd, looking for her. She still can’t believe it, and on numb legs she made her way over to the stage, people moving in order for her to get through. 

She briefly wonders who will fold her brothers laundry, but quickly shakes the thought away, the daze dissolving and giving way for her sharp glare. She is not going to die. Her hands quiver, the only visible sign that her mind is lying. _She will survive_.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is basically the extent of what I've written. Thoughts?


End file.
